AJ joined us to discuss leaving WIN News, re-joining politics, the Jacqui Lambie Network on the stadium, Essendon's win over Collingwood and much more!
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SEN Tassie
Alex Johnston in the studio (6.7.24)
Cool shoes. My brother would love those. Ooh, I don't share my sources. Ah, well, I just found them using circle to search with Google on my new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6. Uh, what? And I texted them to my brother on the other side of this massive screen. Oh, where did you get that phone? Lucky for you. I don't keep keep my sources. Tell them. Get your own Galaxy Z Fold6 now at Samsung.com. Requires internet connection. Results me very by uniqueness clarity and framing of circled image and related factors. This is Saturday's Intazzy with David Lithgow and Brett Jeeves. And there's no stopping us right now. I feel so cool. What a, what a cracking sporting day we have, David. Oh, I don't know what. Guess, well, let me say, guess central, uh, Alex Johnson's going to be with us this morning. He's alive with us here in Harrison's, uh, Harrison Agents, uh, he's looking for a house. And he's, uh, looking forward to starting his new job with the Jackie Lammy network who have been heavily featured across the news in the last week. So we'll get the opportunity to chat to him about that as he transitions, uh, away from what was a phenomenal job with, when news is the news director and he did a, did a stellar job at that. Well, he did. And it's, uh, incredible transition that he's going to make and we're going to talk to Ajay in a few minutes. I'm really excited about Mark Radford, who we've got up early in, in Texas this morning to speak to. He's on the, uh, San Antonio staff, um, for the next couple of weeks in Las Vegas as they do the, uh, the summer league. What a great opportunity to go into that environment. There won't be any wimmy there, of course. There won't be any Greek pop habitual though. I do believe he will get to see pop over the next week. Um, the Olympics has happened in the boomers team was announced terribly, terribly, terribly exciting. But without further ado, it's great to eat your juice. Well, a fellow who's having breast, we can only say one of the great career shifts, not that he hasn't been down this path. It's S.E.N.'s own Alex Johnson. Good morning to you, Ajay. It's getting real now because you're only about a week away starting your new job, which everybody knows that the cat's out of the bag. Yeah, I've got one week left as a humble news director at win, and then I go back into the political, um, stadium. Uh, and yeah, the cat's out of the bag. I'm going to, um, do my best to assist the three MPs who got elected, um, for the Jackie Lambie Network. Uh, and obviously play, uh, such an important role in this new parliament, and it was something that I never thought I'd do again. I didn't particularly love my last time working in politics, especially towards the end. I found it didn't really suit my personality, but, um, this is an opportunity that doesn't come around very often for a number of reasons, which we can expand on. But I'm very excited about it. I'm equally excited about the bombers last night. They were just superb after quarter time. And, um, there's a lot to be optimistic about in this world, David. There is, it's been a really rough 20 years for us and supporters, as much as we'd like to glide about this. And we might save that for a little bit later on. Of course, your last thing was with what you did three years, you did almost a term with the Labor Party. Yeah, I did the full term there, the Labor's first term and opposition. You were jumping at the end of that. I remember, I remember your, you mentioned that you didn't love, and I remember you being grumpy by the end of that term. Yeah, and I think a few of those things that I didn't enjoy, I'm going to try and, um, do the opposite of in this role. Mostly around communication and trust and, um, being really clear with your colleagues and making sure there's no surprises. And taking accountability to when you, when you make a mistake or when you, you get something right, I think both things are fundamentals in any job, but in politics, particularly so, so. Yes, why did you take the job? Now, I'm sure there's financial reasons to do in it, which we don't really need to get into. But what was the main motivation? I was motivated by how unique the opportunity is. So you've got three brand new MPs who, um, have been given a golden opportunity to play a really important role in Tasmania. Um, in a balance of power situation, and we saw in the last term, um, things get pretty hairy when, uh, the political future is uncertain. I think people want two things at the same time in politics. They want the people they elect to be passionate and to go really hard at the issues they believe in. But at the same time, they want government and the parliament to function, get on with running the state. And the three JLN MPs are going to play a very important role in doing that. And I feel like I can provide some assistance. I've been in Tasmania my whole life. I was born here. Um, I know how the place runs. To some extent, of course, there's things I don't know, and you learn every day. But, um, I feel like I can help them navigate that balance between sort of really holding the government to account and going hard on the issues that they believe in their hearts. But also being really constructive. I don't think anyone has time for games or automatums or, um, holding the state to ransom like we've seen in the past. I think they want passionate advocates who will also be constructive and make sure the state moves forward. And that's what I've been, I mean, I haven't officially started yet. But of course, I've had great discussions with the three MPs I'm going to be working with. They're all terrific people. They're all very different. Um, and they've, they come together in such a unique way because normally, if you get elected for the Labor Party, you know, our mate Luke Edmonds, you know, you get preselected and then, you know, you know, you know, the people that you're going to be, uh, working with. And there's a leader and there's a, there's a different structure. Whereas this is, this is new territory. These three MPs didn't know each other before they got elected. They're getting to know each other. They're getting on well, but they're all very different. And I just feel like I can be the glue, I guess. On the outside, looking in during the week, um, obviously some concerns, uh, heavy media week for the Jackie Lamming Network, a budget backflip and promise and some, some different bits and pieces playing out there. How, how do you control a situation like that? Oh, I don't want to talk too much about how the sausage is made, but, um, yeah, there was, there was a lot of coverage this week, but at the end of the day, not too much has changed. They're in, they're in the same position as they were. Um, I want them, I don't, the reason they got elected, I think, is because they offer a different type of politics. So I don't want to micromanage anyone. I want them to speak their mind, I want them to be really honest and, and sort of almost sort of have gut reactions to things. Cause that's what people like and Jackie Lamby has made a career out of being a different type of politician. So I don't want to try and put sort of, you know, the old school, um, rules over, because that would be hypocritical. Then you'd defeat the purpose of having new people being elected. But yeah, of course there'll be things we do about making sure we, um, you know, uh, work together and don't get too many headlines. You know, you want to pick your spots, I guess. And with the, um, you know, it's named the Jackie Lamby network. What role does Jackie play in strategic delivery of policy and process in Tasmania? Well, she's very proud of the fact that she's got three people elected. I mean, uh, others have tried and failed in her life. Palmer spent a fortune trying to get people elected down here and failed, isn't it? And, and Jackie Lamby has got three people elected and, and now in a really powerful position. Of course, she'll have a role, but she's also very busy. There could be a federal election sooner rather than later. So she's flat out. Um, I've had a couple of really great conversations with Jackie and she'll obviously provide guidance and support, but not too much of the day to day stuff. She's got a lot of trust in the three MPs and, and me and we're building a team. We've got other staff coming on as well. So I'm really excited about it. It does feel like, oh, you know, I know this is a sporting show. We probably should talk sport or something, but it does feel like, you know, you're, you're building a club from the ground up. And I know as silly as it sounds, some of the things that I've learned watching the Jackie set up, you know, treating every part of the state with respect, um, treating the media with respect as well, you know, they've got an important role to play. I don't think there needs to be an antagonistic relationship between politics and media. You know, occasionally you'll come to blows, but the media plays such an important role. I mean, you know, when people come on your show or, you know, the big show of a very rarely do you think that was a bad decision to go on and talk about the issue, you always sort of have some more empathy once you hear someone speak. So I'll be encouraging my guys to, especially those conversations where you can be yourself. You get a bit more than the 10 second sound by. You can actually explain why you're passionate about something. So, um, I'm excited about it. It's like, yeah, it's like starting a team from scratch, I guess. And we've got some good people. Remember when we got the mail, Brett nearly four weeks ago, five weeks ago, instantly, I thought this is awesome. Because I think in many respects, you are coming off a low base and you touched on Brett. Some of those issues this week and the Labor party later doing winters attacked, which you've said that's okay and nothing to see here in a way. But they do have to work structurally on the business, the party, the company, whatever you want to call it to get it a little bit more in line with everyday Tasmanians. Do you need to find a bit more of an identity structurally, have I got, am I making sense? Yeah, I guess. I mean, it's still brand new. I mean, up until now, I know there were two senators under the Lamby network and they worked well together. Now we've got these brand new MPs in the State Parliament who worked well together. For me, I'm just excited about getting out and introducing them to lots and lots of people. I've been very lucky in my roles to create great friendships across the state. They're in Bratton, Bass and Line, so we're talking the three biggest electorates from a size point of view, so a lot of territory to cover. Yeah, I think it'll come with time. I'm not going to talk too candidly about the things I have planned, but I can't wait to get face-to-face with my new colleagues to have a discussion about our priorities and the things that they really want to achieve, because also with the team of three, you can't do everything. So you're going to focus on the things that matter most to you and the things that matter most to Tasmanians, and go to bed every night thinking I've achieved something today. If sometimes small, the best things in politics are sometimes the smallest things. You know, Brett went downstairs to get a heater today because it's freezing cold. But if you can get someone a good heating outcome in their social housing property, I mean, you can sleep well at night knowing you've made someone's life better in politics. Sometimes the little things are just as important as the big reforms. Speaking of big things, where does the Jackie Lamming network sit on the stadium? Well, Jackie Lambe yourself was obviously very skeptical about the stadium, suggested that the Premier not put it at Macquarie Point and put it in a much tighter confined there at one stage, quite famously, they're quite on the lawn, so... I think that might have been what she said. No, a healthy amount of skepticism. And look, I'm not trying to distract from the fact that the reality is now with Labor supporting the stadium, the crossbench is opinion on it, it's not as important, because on paper it would pass to votes of the House. So, you know, look, people know what my feeling about the stadium is, but I don't think it's unhealthy to have a crossbench that all put pressure on. No. Especially when the two major parties support it now, I think it's actually quite healthy to have some opposition on the crossbench to keep people on their toes. Opposition in terms of making sure they're accountable, rather than we don't want the stadium, yeah? I think so. I mean, the plans are going to come out this weekend. That's exciting. Yeah, it was very exciting. They'll be revealed probably in the paper tomorrow by the look of things. They even Brett's mate... Well, your mate Roland Brown tweeted that they're coming out this weekend, so his intel's pretty good, so... Is this... Actually, sorry, is it really good? Well, I think in this case it's spot on, to be honest flat, because I hear that... In this particular... Yeah, I hear that it's happening this weekend, it fits with the timeline, so... Oh, no, that part. Sorry, that is true. If it is, his actual information of recent times being good, Josh will he pulled him up and knocked him for six a week and a half ago? No, I didn't. Well, I'll let you fight that fight, but... Sure. As far as the designs go, that'll be another talking point. Yes, it will. And there'll be, obviously, lots of... I think the design will look fantastic, but then there'll be questions I'm sure around logistics and access and public transport and parking, all that things. Alex, let's talk sport. Let's wrap this up and give you an opportunity to spruk the bombers. What did you see last night and what did you like most? I saw a team that has definitely turned the corner. I know last week they were pretty poor against Geelong, we could go over the umpiring. Forget about that. Last night when Jack Chris picked Three in a row, I reckon the old bombers of a couple of years ago would have said night, night, sorry, though the reigning premier is that too good cue in the rack, but Zach Merritt almost single-handedly got them back into the game. I mean, one of the great second-quarters I've ever seen, just phenomenal football. His footy IQ is off the charts, I reckon, and his kicking is as good as anyone. I mean, he's been maligned in the past. I think he's in that very elite company. I'm not saying he's the best player in the league, but he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Bottom Pelli and Patraka when he's up and going. Who am I forgetting? Badas. Pretty good. Your man at Sydney, Gordon. Amazing. He's in that echelon for sure. And a couple of times last night just held off giving a handball, so a player like Martin had more space and then the kick inside 50 was and potent up forward. I mean, they've got so many options now. You're late for digging the things again. Oh, just, just, I don't want to repeat the, you know, they were saying in the commentary box last night, but a natural Ford, you know. Pick 12, he drifted to, and then of course, in the draft, you know, he was predicted to be maybe five or six or seven. He went out to 12. I just, like, the way he contested last night, gave, and that's why I think Esther was Fortnite. It's good at the moment, because we've got a nice balance of bigs, mediums, like Langford, and then smalls like Guelphy. And if you've got Caddy crashing a path, it gives you such a good opportunity. Like, I can't remember too many times that Darcy Moore or someone came across and plucked an easy mark, because Caddy and Wright were contesting so well. So, I mean, I know the skeptics are still there, but I think Esther's brand of footy holds up pretty well now. He, Caddy with the Tim Payne circa 2005, 2006 peroxide. It's a little bit brighter, and it's a bit more dangerous than painting was with the bat during my work. Yes, that's true. There's a bit of confidence there in the young man too. He's got a confident looking get up about him, and that provides you with something different than mighty bombers. Look at his, I'm an absolute innocent hater, but I love the fact that now we do, you know, not 85. What was a fat final figure last night? 81,000 a month. Huge crowds, the blues, the pies, you know, the bombers. Footage pretty healthy isn't it? Hawke playing good footy, I mean, there's a lot. It's a lot to like about footy at the moment, and even the teams down the bottom, like the Rooza, not the worst team to watch at the moment, because they've got so many stars as well. I think footy is as healthy as it's been in a long, long time. It's going to get healthier down here too, you know, there's people wearing the short sleeve, Tazzy Guerns, he's all over the world at the moment. It's an exciting time, isn't digressing back to what we've got here in Tazzy in the future. Cheers, there's a lot of optimism, isn't about our town. A great place to live. I had a lovely weekend in Melbourne last weekend, and it would be nice to watch more live footy. You don't get sick at coming home. Hobart's pretty good, especially on these clear, cold mornings, and the weather forecast is good for golf this afternoon, so it could be a great little weekend or round. You're going to still be able to catch up with us here, I believe, in your contract. I did say, I didn't come and do some sad days with us. I didn't play hardball, but I did negotiate two things. The ability to still do stand-up comedy every Thursday at the Salty Dog, quick plug, and to occasionally come on here. But I realised to that going to a political party in my worth here is not as valuable as it was. I can't really talk about politics as fearlessly and frankly as I have, so maybe we pick our spots. When Seven Mile Beach opens. How is that going? Terrific. I heard a long interview with Matt Gogg in the other day, and they want to open 11 holes as a loop by the end of the year, but they're very cautious about not having hundreds of golfers on there at a time because you don't know how that impacts the course until you do. So, full course, probably not until March next year, he said. But it's so exciting. Super exciting. What's happening with the South Arm, by the way? It's going along. I mean, it's had some twists and turns. They changed designers and they changed the plan. But there's positivity from people I hear, but there's more hurdles. I mean, there's so many more moving parts to that one. Border is the first thing they've got to tick off, I think. The second you got this new job, as we already touched on four or five weeks ago, I just had the biggest smile on my face. I thought this was an amazing opportunity for, well, I'm with Brett. I reckon they've been a bit of a rabble in many respects and I haven't had no identity. Is it too far? Oh, so not quite what I said. No, but I like how it puts effectively. Well, certainly in the break, you said that. In fact, you said much worse than that. But you know what I mean? There's a lot of work to do. You're coming from a bit of a low base and there's no better person that any of us know. Certainly Brett and I, to steer this ship in a better direction. Can't wait to see how you go with it. Well, that means a lot flash. And honestly, if anyone's out there, I'm probably the easiest person in Tasmania to get in contact with them on social media and people know my phone numbers. So I just can't wait to have a lot of really good conversations in the next few months. And if you've got anything that you would like the good people at the jail in to have on their radar, don't hesitate to reach out to me. Alex Johnson, well done. Thanks for joining us this morning. Thanks, boys. Go the Don's.